And they let him because they don’t want to get anything done.

I am referring, of course, to Joe Manchin, who latest Jihad for moderation literally threatens the right to franchise in the United States.

Seriously, Manchin can throw a monkey wrench into the works because it feeds his ego, and there are on consequences.

It’s one thing to have an big tent and working with conservative Democrats, and it’s another to work with disloyal Democrats.

Make him face consequences, and if he wants to bolt to the Republican Party, let’s see how he fares in a Republican primary in 2024: (He won’t, particularly since he voted for impeaching Trump)

Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia said on Sunday in no uncertain terms that he would not vote for the Democrats’ far-reaching bill to combat voter suppression, nor would he ever end the legislative filibuster, a written promise that imperils much of President Biden’s agenda.

The bill, which all the other Senate Democrats had supported and the party had portrayed as an urgent effort to preserve American democracy, would roll back dozens of laws being passed by Republican state legislatures to limit early and mail-in voting and empower partisan poll watchers. The measure, known as the For the People Act, would also restore many of the ethical controls on the presidency that Donald J. Trump shattered.

………

The 818-page bill would end partisan gerrymandering, tighten controls on campaign spending and ease voter registration. It would also force major-party candidates for president and vice president to release 10 years’ worth of personal and business tax returns and end the president’s and vice president’s exemption from conflict-of-interest rules, which allowed Mr. Trump to maintain businesses that profited off his presidency.

With Mr. Manchin’s vow, passage of the full For the People Act appears to be impossible, though parts of it could pass in other ways if Democrats are willing to break up the bill, a move that they have resisted. Mr. Manchin’s blockade of filibuster changes makes other Biden initiatives far less likely to pass, including any overhaul of immigration laws, a permanent expansion of the Affordable Care Act, controls of the price of prescription drugs and the most serious efforts to tackle climate change.

………

House liberals were more scathing. “Manchin’s op-ed might as well be titled ‘Why I’ll vote to preserve Jim Crow,’” Representative Mondaire Jones, Democrat of New York, wrote on Twitter. 

Senate Democrats should kick Manchin loose and stop obliging his narcissism.

First, Manchin has no where else to go, and second, it’s better to have him outside the tent pissing in than to have him inside the tent pissing in.

There is literally no upside to making even the smallest accommodation Joe Manchin.  It makes Democrats appear weak, and reinforces the belief among the electorate that Democrats cannot be trusted to deliver on their promises because they are cowards.

Cowardice is not a good look for any political institution.